PREFACE 



THIS book is a record of my field experiences while 

 engaged in studying the color variations of the wild sheep 

 of Yukon Territory. It is an attempt to give a detailed 

 account strictly from the point of view of a hunter inter- 

 ested in natural history. 



Most parts of the Territory which are inhabited by 

 sheep are also the favorite abodes of moose and grizzly 

 bears, and some of them of caribou. The black bear in- 

 habits the forests everywhere below timber-line ; the white 

 goat lives exclusively in the humid belt of the Coast 

 ranges. No other game animals exist in the Yukon wil- 

 derness. Most of the fur-bearing animals of the Hudso- 

 nian zone are abundant on the timbered slopes immedi- 

 ately below the sheep ranges. The number of species of 

 mammals and birds is small. 



In the North, wild sheep dwell exclusively on high 

 mountains, above timber-line, usually well back within 

 the ranges. Nearly all of the mountains on which I 

 hunted, with the exception of Plateau Mountain and 

 those near Watson River, were untrodden by the foot of 

 white man or Indian. The wilderness was primeval, the 

 sheep practically undisturbed, the other game animals 

 seldom hunted. It was not possible to find guides, for 

 there were none. It was necessary not only to search out 

 a route to the mountains, but also to find the ranges oc- 

 cupied by sheep. I have, therefore, adopted the sub- 

 title, "A Hunter's Explorations for Wild Sheep in Sub- 

 Arctic Mountains." 



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